


Instants of Vulnerability

by tallerthanaffliction



Category: The Folk of the Air - Holly Black
Genre: Begging, Book 1: The Cruel Prince, Dom/sub, F/M, Light BDSM, Light Bondage, Orgasm Delay/Denial, Porn with Feelings, Post-Book 2: The Wicked King, Slapping, and some based on prompts from tumblr, honestly just whatever jurdan smut comes to my mind, lmao this is gonna be a Mess
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-04-07
Updated: 2019-04-16
Packaged: 2020-01-06 06:33:53
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 9,680
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18382931
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tallerthanaffliction/pseuds/tallerthanaffliction
Summary: A collection of smutty Jurdan oneshots that either came to my mind or were requested on mytumblr!Feel free to request chapters and I'll do my best to write them. Most contain spoilers for TWK!





	1. Secret Sincerity

Jude’s words loomed between them, filling the dead silence that followed with burning tension. At least, Jude felt like she was burning, like the inside of her skin was on fire and the only way to douse it was to hurt him. And hurt him she had, she could see by the way he was looking at her, the fury in his eyes not quite masking the pain.

“What did you say to me?” he asked softly. She would have thought the tone dangerous if she wasn’t confident that she was infinitely more dangerous.

“I told you, Cardan,” she said, pausing to step closer to him, hand clenching involuntarily around a knife that wasn’t there. A knife she had stopped carrying around him long ago. _Stupid._ “That you are a worthless, pathetic excuse for a king. That your subjects would be better off if you had died with your siblings. If I recall, I mentioned the fact that I would be better off, as well.”

Obviously, Jude meant none of it. A sick feeling built in her as she spoke, but she didn’t let her face betray the guilt, the shame she felt in her lies. She wanted to hurt him, and hurt him she would.

His response tactic took her entirely off guard.

He smiled, a cruel, cold smile she had almost forgotten the look of. She found that she hadn’t missed it.

Cardan stepped closer to Jude, quickly closing what little distance existed between them, and bent down, lips inches from her ear. Jude shivered ever so slightly, an involuntary response to his proximity, and cursed herself for it as his smile grew wider, as he whispered to her.

“I don’t believe you, Jude.” His voice was smooth, sending a wave of heat pulsing through Jude, electrifying her burning skin. She knew he could somehow sense that, too.

“Don’t you think we’d all be better off wirh you dead, Cardan?” Jude asked, her harsh words the only defense she had against her body’s reactions to him.

“Oh, yes,” Cardan replied. “I do. But you knew that, which is why you use it against me. Why you attempt to hurt me. But the question here, Jude, my cruel girl, is whether you share the sentiment, whether you truly wish me dead, and I posit that you,” here he paused, shifting so that his lips brushed hers, one barely-there touch, “do not.” With that, he brought his lips to hers, no kindness in the bruising kiss. 

Jude responded in kind, ran her hands up his chest, dug her nails into his shoulders. Kissed him furiously. She pulled away just long enough to tangle her hands in the front of his shirt, tug him to the bed, and push him so that he sprawled back onto it. Cardan grinned, only serving to infuriate Jude further. She straddled him, legs around his hips, and pinned his hands to the bed on either side of his head.

“Did my words hurt you, Cardan? Tell me now, or I leave.” She had to hear him say it, craved the sickening satisfaction of having caused him pain. When he didn’t reply immediately, she released one of his hands, brought her own between her legs, pushed her underwear aside and began stroking herself lightly. She saw the hunger in his eyes, the rage and the desire, before she threw her head back, acting out her pleasure. “I’d hate to have to take care of things on my own,” she gasped out.

It was too much for Cardan.

“Yes,” he replied, eyes not leaving the motion of her hand. “You hurt me. Is that what you wanted to hear? Does it make you feel whole, hurting me? Does it make you feel powerful? In control?” Suddenly, without warning, he flipped them over so that Jude’s back was on the bed, Jude’s hands were pinned beside her. She glared up at him, angrier than ever.

“You are powerful, Jude. You are the High Queen of Elfhame. Why do you need to hurt me?”

She could hear the secret sincerity in his words, as though he was begging for a genuine answer. She would give him that, if nothing else.

“You can never have enough power,” she said, eyes locking onto his, “when you have so long been powerless.”

“I have so long been powerless, Jude. I let it make me cruel. Do not make my mistakes.”

Jude closed her eyes. 

“I need it, Cardan. The power. The control.”

“So take it, Jude, but take it in a way more pleasant for the both of us.” With that, he rolled off her, stretched out on his back, raised his hands over his head and kept them there. “Take it.”

Jude took it.

She unfastened the belt she wore around her doublet, used it to bind his hands above his head after making quick work of removing his clothes. She smiled down at him, a menacing smile to tell him just how long she’d wanted him in this position, helpless beneath her.

“Sweet Jude,” he murmured, voice reverent. “do your worst to me.”

“You’re putting more faith in me than perhaps you should. I could tie you to the bed and leave you here for servants to find. I could pull a knife from my boot, slice you up until you regretted ever making me feel powerless.”

“You would find it very easy to make me regret that,” he said. His voice shook slightly, whether from need or fear or something more complex she did not know.

Jude pressed a kiss to his throat. “I have no knife in my boot,” she whispered, a confession. “I haven’t carried knives to meet with you in quite some time, though I can’t explain why.” She knew she might regret the words if she one day needed to threaten his life, but for now, she let them come, let herself admit to this shred of vulnerability. “I suppose I don’t consider you a constant threat to my life, which is more than I can say of most of the people I know.”

She expected Cardan to chuckle, but he didn’t. She could have sworn that the expression on his face when she drew back to look at him was one of near concern. She kissed him quickly so she would have to see the concern no longer. She wanted to punish him for it, and so she did, raking her nails down his bare chest until he gasped sharply in pain against her lips. Then she did it again, causing him to groan. 

“Knife or no, you will be the death of me, Jude Duarte.” 

She had a physical reaction to hearing him say her full name, and she moved down his body, used her lips and tongue to soothe the scratches down his chest. 

_And you me, Cardan Greenbriar_ , she thought but could not say. 

Instead, she moved even lower, kissed his abdomen, his hip. Cardan’s breathing grew ragged even as she entirely ignored the place he most wanted her lips. Instead, she kissed and licked up his thighs, across his stomach, his chest, moving up and down his body, teasing and tormenting him. 

If there was one thing Cardan was _not_ the king of, it was patience.

“Jude,” he said, voice pleading. “Why do you torture me?”

Jude laughed against his skin. “Don’t be dramatic. And anyway, I thought I had the power here. If I recall, I was told to take control. And yet you complain.” Her voice was amused, though, rather than harsh, and at his long-suffering sigh of a response she continued her ministrations, rising higher to kiss his lips. It was the softest kiss of the night, almost gentle, bruised lips on bruised lips, pleasure without pain. Jude sighed into it before remembering herself, remembering that she was in control.

Finally, she settled herself between his legs on the bed and took him into her mouth. He let out a strangled sound, hands straining against the belt, and she knew he wanted to bring one down, stroke her hair or pull it hard, depending on his mood. He’d done both many times before.

She continued to tease him with slow licks and gentle kisses until he groaned her name in protest. Then she grinned and pulled away completely.

“So impatient,” she chastised, relishing the effect she had on him. For once, she didn’t acutely feel her lack of experience, the fact that he had shared a bed with so many and she had shared a bed with only him. For once, she almost felt like his equal, even if it was an equality she had to tie him up to achieve.

Jude slid from his body, off the bed, and stood. A protest formed on Cardan’s lips, but died as Jude removed her doublet, her pants, her underwear. She stood naked before him and he lifted his head off the bed to see all of her. In a heartbeat, she was atop him again and pinning his head down with a hand around his throat.

“No, no,” she said smoothly. “Stay very, very still.” Again she wished she had a knife, could hold it against his throat to prevent movement, but the threat in her words would have to do. 

With that, she rose to her knees and began to touch herself in earnest this time, two of her fingers pumping in and out of her while another circled her clit. She moaned, dizzy with the knowledge of what she was doing to him, how affected he was.

“Jude, Jude, Jude,” he chanted, her name a prayer on his lips. “Let me touch you, Jude. Let me taste you. Jude, Jude, Jude, Jude.”

Jude kept her eyes on Cardan’s as she pleasured herself, watched as his pupils dilated, his eyes widened.

“Tell me that you hate me,” she breathed, the same words he had said to her that very first time. 

“You know I cannot,” he replied, wistfulness in his eyes, the desire to lie obvious. 

“Do you want me?”

“I want you so badly that I think of nothing else but this. During meetings, during revels, when I’m doing my duties as High King, all I think of is you beneath me, you on top of me, the beautiful view from between your legs. All I crave is the taste of you on my lips, the feeling of your skin under my hands. When you leave the room, I wish for your return, and when you dress it is a true torment to have the beauty of your naked body hidden away from the world, from me.”

“Dramatic,” Jude said, but she was pleased. She would certainly never tell him that she felt the same, but it was nice to know the truth of how much he craved her. 

In reward, she lifted herself to her knees, moved backward until she was able to guide him to her entrance, then inside her. Her own fingers had opened her up enough that he slid in with little resistance, and she sank down onto him, an involuntary moan leaving her lips. He smiled, but it was blissful rather than self congratulatory, a small, contented smile she rarely saw him wear. She found that she liked it.

“Remember,” she said breathily, “if you move, I stop.” Then she raised herself up and sank back down onto him, twisting her hips in the way she knew from experience would elicit a reaction. Sure enough, he groaned, and she repeated the motion. Cardan closed his eyes.

“Jude,” he said again, so softly this time that she barely heard him. “The things I want to do to you, Jude. The things I want you to do to me.”

Jude brought her hand down between them, touched herself once more. “Open your eyes, Cardan.” He obeyed, eyes wide as he watched her move. She continued to rise and fall on him, every stroke of her fingers bringing her closer to the edge as every movement of her body did the same to him. He felt her inner walls clamp around him and knew she was close.

“Let me touch you, Jude,” he pleaded once more. “Let me make you come.”

“No,” she replied, and with that she increased the speed of her fingers and brought herself over the edge, crying out his name as she did, uncaring about the guards outside the room who could surely hear her. She was his queen, and she had every right to share his bed.

Cardan quickly followed suit, chanting her name as he came. When he was spent, he relaxed into the bed, closed his eyes. Jude slipped off him, propped herself up on her elbow beside him, feeling exhaustion try to claim her but wanting to stay awake for a while longer. 

“Dear Jude,” he said, cracking one eye open. “Do you care to untie me?”

She did so without a word, releasing his hands from where they were belted together, tossing the belt into the pile of her clothes on the floor.

“Cardan—“ she began, voice hesitant.

“I know, Jude,” he said, turning to face her, running a newly-freed hand down her arm.

“I need to say it,” she said sharply. “I don’t think your subjects would be better off if you were dead. In fact, and you know it pains me to say this, I think you’re a better ruler than most of your siblings would have been.”

“And what of you?” he asked quietly. “Would you be better off?”

Jude was silent for a long moment before relaxing into the bed, facing the ceiling, one hand still resting casually on Cardan’s hip. 

“How could I be? Who else would let me tie them up and ride them?” She knew her attempt to deflect the question was obvious, but she still made it.

“Anyone, Jude,” Cardan replied sincerely. “You could have anyone.”

They were both silent then, drifting towards sleep, eyes growing heavy as they lay side by side. Cardan placed a hand over Jude’s on his hip. Right before sleep overcame her, Jude murmured,

“No, Cardan. I don’t think I would be better off. Not better off at all.”

And then she was asleep.


	2. Stop.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Requested by an anon on tumblr! The prompt was "Are you sure? Once we start, I might not be able to stop."

Jude was splayed out on the bed, one hand trailing over her own waist, the other entwined with Cardan’s. He was propped up on one elbow beside her, watching hungrily, eyes flashing with desire as he tracked the motions of her hand.

“Are you sure?” she asked, voice quiet but playful. “Once I start, I might not be able to stop.”

“I can always stop you,” he replied smoothly, tracing his thumb across the back of her hand. “If I decide to make you wait.”

Jude moved her free hand higher, traced the outlines of her breasts. “Since when are you in charge?”

Cardan ducked his head, playing at bashful, and smiled up at her. “Oh, I would never assume that I had any control here. But I convinced you to put on a show for me, didn’t I?”

Jude moved a hand up to pluck at one of her nipples, arching her back with a small gasp. Putting on a show was exactly what she was doing. “I never realized,” she paused to gasp as she pinched harder, this one genuine, “how much you like to watch.”

“Did you not, Jude, dear? Not after all the times I’ve stared up at you while I tasted you, or all the hours I’ve let you spend riding me, just so I could watch you move?” Jude grumbled at the implication that he “let” her do anything, but she moved on as he said “here, let me help you with that,” and replaced her hand with his on her breast. Deft fingers toyed with her nipples, pulling and pinching almost to the point of pain — just the way she liked it — before he brought his mouth to join them. Jude made a small sound as he bit down on one nipple with just the right amount of pressure. Suddenly, though, Cardan pulled back, smiling a smile with an edge to it.

“No, Jude,” he said, voice chastising. “If you stop, I stop.”

She hadn’t realized that her hand had stilled its motion and she quickly resumed, running her hand down her body and, without hesitation, plunging two fingers into herself. As much as she was enjoying Cardan’s ministrations on her breasts as he resumed biting, licking, sucking, she wished her fingers were his. But she made do, twisting her wrist to curl her fingers hard inside herself, bringing her thumb up to circle her clit. She moaned at the contact and tried to pull her other hand from his, to use both to make herself come, but Cardan squeezed her hand tightly.

“No,” he said sharply. “One hand.”

Jude groaned in frustration, realizing that he was trying to make this more difficult for her, to prolong it. Her theory was confirmed as he said,

“You will stop when I tell you to, and you won’t come without my explicit permission.”

“Again, when did I say you could be in charge?” But she knew the battle was already lost when he bit down harder on her breast, already half covered in marks from his mouth.

He hummed against her skin. “Tell me to stop and you know I will.”

She didn’t.

His hand left her breast and rose to grip her chin, gently but firmly. “Give me your word that you will ask permission.”

“I will,” she gasped out. “I give you my word.”

“Good,” he said with a mockingly innocent smile. He pulled back to watch her, staring intently at the motions of her hand inside herself, against her clit, something like awe in his eyes. “Beautiful,” he murmured. “Stunning, Jude.”

Jude blushed hotly, for the first time in a long time self-conscious under his stare. “Cardan,” she moaned as she felt herself grow closer to orgasm, the look in his eyes turning her on even more, if that was possible. “Can I come?”

Normally, Jude would have revolted against the idea of asking — begging, really — Cardan for anything. But she had made him do the same the night before, and a week ago, and so many times that she had lost track, so she supposed it was only fair that she be the one craving release for once.

“No,” Cardan said with a cruel smile. “Stop.”

Jude stopped, leaving her fingers inside herself but ceasing all motion.

“Cardan,” she pleaded. “I’m so close.”

“No,” he repeated simply. “Not yet.”

He stroked his fingers gently down her sides, over her breasts, across her waist. She shivered at the contact, so on the edge that the slightest touch from him drove her wild.

After a few minutes, he finally relented. “You have one minute,” he whispered. “If you can do it in one minute, you can come.”

Jude instantly began to stroke her clit, hard, focusing all of her energy on making herself come. She rubbed small circles around it with her index finger and, when Cardan released her other hand, pulled at her now-bruised nipples, hurriedly seeking release.

“Fifteen seconds, Jude, my love,” he said, and at the sound of his voice she came hard, plummeting over the edge, crying out and reaching wildly to tangle her fingers in Cardan’s hair.

As Jude came down from the orgasm, she became aware of Cardan stroking her cheek, nuzzling his face into her neck. She was conscious of the words he was muttering there, “beautiful” and “stunning” and “flawless.”

“Cardan,” she breathed, running her fingers through his hair softly. “Did you enjoy the show?” she asked weakly.

“More than I can put into words, dear Jude.”

She rolled to face him. “You were mean,” she said, pouting slightly. He let out a laugh.

“I could be meaner.”

Now it was Jude’s turn to laugh. “As if I’ll ever let you be in charge again.”

“Someday, Jude. You can’t tell me you did not enjoy it.”

She indeed couldn’t, so instead she nestled her head into his chest and whispered, “maybe someday,” before falling asleep.


	3. Happy

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Prompt (from Tumblr): "I can't wait until we're alone. There are so many things I want to do to you right now."

“Will you give me the honor of this dance, my queen?”

That was how it began.

Cardan had approached Jude where she stood talking to some of their subjects, fake-smiling and doing her best to charm them. This was a job which was best left to Cardan, and both of them knew it, but as queen, Jude tried to do her fair share of networking and conflict resolution both.

Now, though, Cardan had decided to free her from the misery she had trapped herself in, and so he asked her to dance.

“A simple dance?” Jude asked, eyebrows raised, ever expecting a catch. “Of course.”

Cardan took Jude’s hand in his and led her to the dancing. He spun her into his arms, twirled her around until she was so dizzy she began to laugh. And once she started laughing, she seemed to have trouble stopping, near _giggling_ as Cardan continued to twirl her.

Cardan was far past certain that it was the most beautiful sight he had ever laid eyes on. Jude’s laughs were few and far between, and a spell of it like this was unheard of.

“Have you indulged in drink tonight, Jude?” he asked, smiling at her.

“No,” she replied, laughter still bubbling out of her, “I’m just…” she paused, laughter faltering, as her voice began to take on an uncertain tone. “I believe I’m happy at the moment.”

Cardan leaned in, pulled her against him and brought his mouth close to her ear.

“Your happiness, it seems, is affecting me. I can hardly wait until we find ourselves alone, Jude. There are so many things I want to do to you tonight.”

Jude’s steps faltered, though they could not cease until the music did. She rapidly regained her composure, however, and stood on her tip toes to whisper in his ear,

“We could be alone quite quickly, King, if we so chose.”

Cardan could feel his blood heating. “Where,” he demanded roughly.

Jude subtly motioned to the door behind the throne, to the room where they had their first… encounter, almost a year ago now.

So much had happened since then, and Cardan felt emotion well up in him as he thought of how vastly things had improved between them.

“Yes, we should confer on this matter,” Cardan announced when the music paused, loudly enough to be heard but not so loudly as to provoke suspicion. “Join me in the conference room, Jude?”

“Of course.”

Cardan hurriedly led Jude to the room, and before the door had even finished closing behind them he had her pressed up against it.

“That was a flimsy excuse,” Jude protested. “Everyone will know what we’re doing.”

“Yes, Jude. And the people will be listening near the door for proof of the depraved actions of their king and queen, so I should think it in your best interest to remain very, very quiet.” He punctuated his words with a finger against her lips, the tip of which he slipped into her mouth. She bit it teasingly.

“I am not the one with trouble keeping quiet,” she said, but she kept her voice low as he suggested.

Before Jude could say anything else, Cardan’s mouth was on hers again, his fingers wandering down her sides, tugging up the dress she had donned for tonight’s revel. The dress she looked so stunning, so _happy_ in that he found her irresistible.

One of Cardan’s hands found its way under her dress, and he ran his fingertips teasingly along her inner thighs.

“Spread your legs,” he pleaded, trying to shove one of his own between hers. “Let me touch you.”

Jude smiled. “And if I don’t?” she asked, toying with him.

Cardan stepped back until no part of their bodies remained touching. “Why, I would respect your space, Jude.” The smile on his face belied the fact that he knew exactly what his actions would do to her.

Jude fisted her hands into Cardan’s airy shirt, yanked him towards her and pressed his body back against hers.

“Touch me,” she said, a demand more than a request as she spread her legs for him.

Cardan knelt, skimming his hands up her legs and bringing them around to cup her ass.

“Here?” he asked, smiling an innocent smile up at her.

“Cardan,” she said harshly, one hand coming down to fist in his hair, to force his head back. “I told you to touch me.”

His smile faltered and he obeyed, ripping off her underwear in a fluid motion and plunging two fingers inside her.

Jude gasped, her head hitting the door with a thunk that she knew their audience could probably hear.

“Shh,” Cardan said, grinning as he began curling his fingers inside her, stroking a spot that had her gasping, her breathing turning shallow. Her hand in his hair tightened.

“Tell me where you want me, Jude,” he said softly.

This was a pattern — Cardan would make sure Jude was wet and wanting before encouraging her to speak her desire to him. That was the only time he could compel her to. Generally, she was somewhat shyer when it came to talking about sex than having it, and Cardan fully intended to remedy this with persistent persuasion.

“I want,” Jude began, breaking off to bite her lower lip as his fingers stroked her especially hard. “I want your mouth on me,” she gasped out.

“Where?” Cardan asked, voice smooth, as he began to lick, bite, kiss his way up her thigh. “Here?”

“My clit,” she said in a rush, heat coloring her cheeks. “Cardan, taste me.”

He could never resist those words, and he did as she requested, licking up from the place his fingers entered her body to circle her clit with his tongue.

Jude moaned and he hummed against her.

“Quiet, my girl,” he murmured.

Jude didn’t reply, merely breathed heavily as his tongue flicked over her clit repeatedly, his fingers never stilling their motions inside her. With his other hand he reached up, found a nipple and flicked it through her dress in time with the motions of his tongue. When he changed his motions, sucked her clit into his mouth as he pulled sharply on the nipple, Jude cried out softly.

Cardan laughed.

“Are you so desperate for me that you find yourself utterly unable to keep quiet? That you insist upon providing entertainment to our subjects?”

Jude whimpered, far past the point of providing a clever retort. Rather, she grew even more wanting at his words.

“Cardan,” she breathed, “I’m close.”

“Close to what, Jude?”

“Close to coming. Oh, god, I’m close.”  
“Then come, my dear,” he said softly, speeding up his ministrations until he sent her tumbling over the edge, crying out his name as she came hard around his fingers.

When she came down from her orgasm, panting, legs shaking, Cardan pulled back and gazed up at her.

“You’re beautiful,” he told her matter of factly. “And perhaps all of Elfhame heard you come.”

Jude now had the presence of mind to blush, but smiled down at Cardan anyway.

“Then all of Elfhame will know that it merely takes a bit of laughter to make its High King desperate to please.”

Cardan’s expression grew softer as he looked at her. “That is an honor, my dear Jude, reserved for the High Queen.”

Jude smiled and pulled Cardan up by the hand, straightening her dress before she pulled the door open, leaving her underwear off and discarded in the room.

“Let us face our subjects proudly, then,” she said, leading him out by the hand. “And show them that their rulers are, for the night, happy.”


	4. My King

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A tumblr anon asked me to write "Cardan in charge" so I super, super did. Warnings for light slapping and bloodplay, begging, orgasm delay, dom/sub stuff. Jude is either OOC or this is set in a time when she's worked through some stuff. Anyway I hope you enjoy!

“Cardan,” Jude snapped, voice sharp and eyes hard. “If you don’t release me—“

“I think, dear Jude, that you are in no position to give orders,” he replied with a smile, gazing down at her, at her hands pinned to the bed beside her, held in his.

Jude glared up at him but made no move to get away, nor even to struggle. “I don’t know when you decided that I’m yours to do what you will with, but I think we both know that I’m better in control.”

Cardan gave her a mocking smile.

“Feisty girl,” he murmured. “Whatever shall I do to you tonight?”

Jude tensed, but Cardan could see the desire spark in her eyes. He knew how she loved it when he spoke to her, when he whispered foul things in her ears while curling his fingers inside her. Knew how ashamed she was of it, how she tried to prevent him from knowing the extent of the affect he had on her.

Cardan released Jude’s hands and stood from the bed. “Stay where you are,” he ordered, levity in his voice no longer, before crossing to the closet, gathering scarves she had brought from the mortal world — stolen from Vivi — that they kept here for just this purpose. When he turned back to the bed, she hadn’t moved. Good. That meant she was taking him seriously.

Returning to the bed, Cardan kept his face hard, letting none of his pleasure show.

“Stand up,” he commanded her, and his satisfaction increased at her obedience. She glared at him still, but made no further protest as Cardan looked her up and down.

“Strip.”

Again, she obeyed. He had taken control before, but never seen her this obedient — she must truly need this, need to give up control for a while with the only person she would ever allow to put her in this position. He knew the pressure she had been under lately as High Queen, knew that she surely craved a break from the responsibility.

Well, a break he would certainly give her.

Jude slowly peeled off her dress, the dress she had been wearing to the revel minutes before Cardan led her to his chambers and pinned her to his bed. He had watched her all night, watched every motion of her body, watched the way other faeries had watched her too, lust in their eyes. The same lust that was surely mirrored in his own.

When Jude stood naked before him, Cardan gazed at her, tried to keep the approval, desire, longing out of his eyes. Tried to school his expression into one of pure dominance.

“Lie down,” he ordered, “with your hands above your head.” When her hands were against the headboard, Cardan fastened the scarves he still held around her wrists and pulled them between the slits in the wood. He tied them off, then stood to survey his work. She remained still throughout it all. It honored him to know that no one else got to see her in this position, but he certainly wasn’t about to let on that he was touched.

“Test the bonds. Make sure you can’t move.”

Jude rolled her eyes, but she did as she was told, straining against the scarves. They held tightly and Cardan saw the familiar fear spark in Jude’s eyes as she realized she was helpless. _Powerless_ , as he knew she would see it.

His impulse was to reassure her that he would never abuse the power she had given him, but he knew that what she needed right now was for him to maintain control of the situation, to pretend his authority over her was anything but an illusion, a gift she had granted him. So, instead, he traced one finger down the side of her face, smiled wickedly at her.

“Oh, the things I could do with you, Jude. The games we could play with you tied up like this, helpless beneath me. The ways I could hurt you, make you suffer, make you beg.” At that his smile grew wider, and he leaned close to her ear. “And I _will_ make you beg,” he breathed.

Jude’s skin broke out in goosebumps and her breathing grew ragged. Desire overwhelmed the fear in her eyes as she looked up at him, and the last sparks of resistance, last glimmers of the glare she had worn since he first pinned her down, faded.

He knew she was his, if just for the night.

“If you need me to stop at any time, say…” he thought for a moment. “Faerie fruit. Say faerie fruit. Do you understand?”

“Yes,” she said, eyes wide at the thought of needing a safe word.

“Yes what, my Jude?”

“Yes… my king?” She was uncertain, hesitant, but the fact that she would make any attempt was a miracle to him.

“Good,” he said with a smile. “Spread your legs for me, Jude, dear. I would have unrestricted access to your body.”

She spread her legs slightly, but the space she created between them was small enough that he knew she either continued in trying to resist him or remained cautious. Either way…

Before Jude could react, Cardan slapped her inner thigh sharply, causing her to cry out in surprise and slight pain.

“I told you to spread your legs, Jude,” he said harshly, twining his fingers into her hair and yanking her head backwards. “I expect you to obey.”

Jude spread her legs wide.

He knew that she expected him to touch her then, but he didn’t, not right away. Instead, he surveyed her body, ran his eyes over every part of her, nothing on his face to give away what he was thinking.

Cardan saw a blush rising on Jude’s face under the scrutiny, but with her legs spread this widely, he could also see that she was already wet.

“Poor Jude,” he said with a pointed glance between her legs. “You already want me this desperately, and I plan to make you wait such a _very_ long time to have me.”

Jude whimpered so softly Cardan almost missed it. He had never seen her in such a state of submission, and as a reward, he finally touched her.

Cardan ran his fingers down Jude’s arms, a feather-light touch. His fingers left more goosebumps in their wake.

His hands migrated to her stomach, tracing patterns there, movements still tantalizingly slow. He ran them across her waist, making her twitch, and barely brushed the underside of her breasts.

“Kiss me,” Jude said softly, imploringly.

Cardan answered with another sharp slap to the inside of her thigh, eliciting a cry from her once again.

“How do we ask for things we want, Jude?” Cardan asked, a patronizing tone to his voice.

Jude stayed silent, merely closed her eyes. Cardan did not miss her refusal to do anything that even remotely resembled begging. The rare other times she had let him take control, he had never succeeded in making her beg. Tonight, though, he fully intended to change that.

He slapped her again in the same place and she groaned in pain. Her legs twitched as if to close, but she thought better of it and spread them wider. Showing her obedience without having to plead for anything.

“Before this night is through, Jude,” he said, voice cold, “you will be willing to beg and plead most prettily for any scrap of pleasure I would deign to provide you. You will not come until you do.”

Jude squeezed her eyes shut tighter and said nothing. Cardan slapped her thigh once more for good measure, then returned to his gentler ministrations on her upper body. He ran a hand across the tops of her breasts, making a careful effort to avoid so much as brushing her nipples. He wanted her desperate enough to beg before he even entered her with his fingers.

He had not missed, as well, the reaction of her body when he had slapped her. He saw how her nipples tightened, how she grew wetter. He filed the information away for later use.

Finally, after several minutes, he brought his fingers to her nipples, brushing them in featherlight touches. Jude gasped.

“Are you ready to ask nicely for what you want?” Cardan asked, coaxing her to answer. Yet still she remained quiet, stubborn, cautious.

He expected this, and he would work with it.

Cardan brought a hand up and slapped her breast, making sure that one ringed finger caught her nipple, sent pain shooting through her nerves. Jude yelped, eyes snapping open, and twisted her body to try to get away from his hand, but found herself bound too tightly.

Cardan grinned and slapped her again, again, again until her breast was red, them brought his mouth to her chest. He used his lips and tongue to soothe the hurt he had caused, closed his teeth ever so softly around her nipple, scraped them across her flesh. Jude writhed beneath him, alternating between pushing her chest closer and trying to pull it away.

She was exactly where he wanted her.

He repeated the process on the other breast, then, bringing pain with his hands and pleasure with his mouth. Then he pulled back, looked down at his handiwork, at the red handprints on her breasts.

“I want to mark every inch of your body as mine, wicked Jude. I wish to leave punishing bruises and sweet, sweet imprints of my ownership all over your flesh. And it seems that I’m in luck, as I presently have the power to do just that.”

Jude’s eyes grew wider, fear and desire, dread and excitement in her expression as her mouth parted slightly. “Yes, my king,” she replied prettily, submissively.

Good.

Cardan climbed onto the bed to kneel between Jude’s legs. He leaned over her and bit down roughly on one nipple, grew harder than he already was at her sharp intake of breath. Paused to breathe himself, to remember that this was not about him, not yet. He raked his nails down her stomach, over her hipbone, down her thigh. He pulled back to see that he had drawn blood.

He bent and licked up the scratches, tasted her blood on his tongue and hummed against her skin. Jude pulled at her bonds, small sounds escaping her, reactions to the mingled pain and pleasure.

He still had yet to touch her where she wanted it most, and he began to move closer, scraping his teeth over her hips and abdomen, nails digging in to the sides of her thighs.

Jude winced as Cardan sucked a hickey onto her inner thigh.

“It is so very easy to make you flinch, Jude. It makes hurting you all the more delicious.”

As he spoke, Cardan teased one finger at her entrance. He pushed it in agonizingly slowly, eliciting a low groan from Jude, who pulled harder against the scarves in an attempt to get his finger deeper, faster.

Cardan stilled all motion.

“If you strain at your bonds again, I will punish you.” He said it so matter-of-factly that it took Jude a moment to process, but when she did she went utterly still, barely breathing.

“Yes, my king,” she gasped out, a clear attempt to placate him in her words.

He curled his finger inside her and hummed in pleasure when her back arched in response. Cardan leaned down to bite her thigh gently, then licked his way back up to the apex of her legs. He gave one barely-there lick to her clit before pulling back, but it was enough to elicit a moan from Jude.

“I’ve never felt you this wet, Jude,” Cardan teased as he slowly added a second finger, curling both inside her to the rhythm of his words. “It’s delightfully pathetic. All it took were a few words and a smidgen of pain and you were rendered helpless before me. Are you aware, sweet, that I made you _bleed_? I made you bleed and still you lie here wanting me. I left my marks all over your body and still, _still_ you will be willing to beg for me shortly. You put on a strong face for the world, Jude, but spread before me you are so beautifully weak.”

Jude shut her eyes tightly against his words but could not hold back another moan, both at his words and his motions inside her. Cardan felt Jude’s inner muscles clench down as she grew even wetter from his mocking words. He grinned.

“Jude, Jude, Jude,” he whispered, punctuating each word with the curling of his fingers, hard against her g spot, making her gasp. “Beautiful and mine. Do open your eyes.” With his last words Cardan pulled his fingers from inside her and slapped her thigh once more, making clear that he was serious.

Jude yelped and opened her eyes, looked down at him where he knelt between her legs. “I’m sorry, my king.”

_Very_ good.

An apology from Jude was a rare occurrence indeed, and the fact that she would give one now meant that she was as far gone, as deeply in her submission as Cardan had hoped.

“Jude,” Cardan said, voice soft now, coaxing. “What would please you at present? What can I do for you?”

“Taste me. I want you to taste me, my king.” The words stumbled out of Jude in a rush, as if she was afraid she would lose her chance to say them.

“And why should I?”

“Because…” Jude trailed off, searching for a reason. “Because I’m being more obedient than I have ever been, and because I’m so wet for you, and because I endured your pain and now ask for pleasure.”

“Endured is not the word I would use for what ‘my’ pain was for you. Do you deny that you enjoyed it?”

Jude’s voice grew quiet. “No, my king. I do not deny it.”

Cardan could tell it pained her to say those words, so he rewarded her.

“Very well,” he said before bringing his mouth down and sucking her clit into it. Jude moaned so loudly half of Elfhame could have heard her. Cardan hoped they did, hoped everyone heard the proof that Jude was _his_ tonight.

Cardan entered Jude with three fingers this time, pumping them in and out in time with his tongue on her clit. Judging by how wet Jude was, by the sounds she was making, Cardan knew it would take very little work to have her coming around his fingers.

Too bad he intended to make her wait.

Jude was panting, desperately clutching the headboard to avoid pulling at the scarves, her back arched off the bed. Cardan waited until her breaths grew sharper, her muscles clenched harder, before pulling back.

Jude whimpered and then surprised him.

“My king,” she began, voice shaking from pleasure and frustration. “I know you intend to make me wait, but would you grant me one favor?”

“What is it, sweet girl?” he asked, referring both to her present demeanor and to the taste of her.

“Undress, so that I can see you?”

The girl bit her damn lip. She was going to be the death of him.

Cardan rose from the bed, shrugged off his linen shirt and dark green pants, and climbed back onto the bed, now naked.

“Better, Jude, dear?”

“Much,” she said with a small smile.

Cardan leaned over Jude’s body and finally kissed her hard, ran his tongue inside her lower lip so she could taste herself. When he pulled back, she whimpered, her flushed face an indication of how wanting she still was.

“Do you want to come, Jude?”

She nodded, bit her lip once again. “Yes, my king.”

“Beg.”

Jude was silent for several moments. She looked torn, and Cardan began to feel sorry for her, for the internal battle she was clearly waging.

“I want to…” Jude said, but trailed off, frustration clear on her face.

Cardan stroked a hand gently over her hip, a small gesture of reassurance.

“Allow me to provide further encouragement,” he said with a smile.

Cardan spread Jude’s legs even wider and resumed eating her out as though he had never stopped. He teased at her clit with his tongue while his fingers continued stroking her hips, over her stomach, brushing the undersides of her breasts. Jude writhed beneath him. Her legs shook as she grew closer and closer to orgasm. Right before she would have come, Cardan pulled back, smiling down at her. Jude let out a frustrated cry.

“Please, my king, please let me come,” she finally gasped out, eyes squeezed shut once again, hands in fists. Cardan was in awe as he stared up at her, that this beautiful mortal was begging for him, that she would fight a war with herself to allow a moment of what felt like weakness. He had never seen her stronger.

“This is control, Jude,” he said softly. “You begging me for what you need when everything in you is screaming not to. I can see it, and I want you to know that overcoming that voice is control. This is power, Jude, this moment. Remember that.”

Jude opened her eyes to look at him, and he was shocked at the depth of feeling on her face. Desire, pain, need, and something deeper, whatever she felt for him that he only saw in her most vulnerable moments.

Cardan was in awe.

“That being said, Jude,” Cardan said, returning to the matter at hand and slipping back into dominance. “I believe I told you once to make your begging both flowery and worthy of me.”

Jude was silent once again, and Cardan entered her with two fingers, curled them inside her so, so slowly. Jude’s legs twitched and Cardan knew she was right on the edge of orgasm still.

“Please, my king. I am yours to do what you will with, but I would be eternally grateful, forever in your debt, if you would allow me to come around your fingers, to fall apart beneath you.” Jude’s words were rushed, desperate, and Cardan nodded in approval.

“More,” he ordered, increasing the pace of his fingers slightly.

Jude changed tactics.

“I have been most obedient tonight, most pliable in your hands, have gloried in the pain you’ve caused me, in the sensation of being left wanting, but I have reached the end of what I can endure. Oh, fuck, my king,” she said as he increased pace further, brushed her clit lightly with his thumb. “Please, _please_ , I need to come.”

“Come.”

Cardan brought his mouth back to Jude’s clit and licked it, hard and fast and steady, until she came screaming, shuddering around him.

“Cardan, my king, oh god, please yes please yes,” fell from Jude’s mouth in a chant, a repetition of bliss. Only when she had ridden out all of the aftershocks did Cardan cease his motions and pull back, leaning down to kiss her gently.

“Now, my dear, I give you a choice,” he said, stroking her cheek with reverence. “I can untie you now and we can retire to sleep, or I can fuck you and make you come again. I know which option I would prefer, but the choice is yours.”

Jude did not hesitate. “Fuck me, my king. And…” here she paused, considering, before speaking. “Thank you.”

He knew she was thanking him for more than making her come, thanking him for what he had said earlier, for making it clear that she was not sacrificing power by begging for him.

“You are most welcome, dear Jude,” he said smoothly, pressing a kiss to her forehead.

Without warning, Cardan tangled his fingers into her hair once more, pulling her head back. “I expect you to look at me,” he said. Jude tried to nod, but he held her head in place firmly. Before she could do anything else, he positioned himself between her legs and entered her.

Jude moaned loudly, her eyes glazing as she looked up at him. Cardan smiled at her, a sweet smile with an edge, as he began to thrust into her, slowly at first. With her encouraging moans he sped up and finally released her hair with a final warning look, bringing his hand down to where their bodies joined to rub circles around her clit. Jude arched her back, so Cardan brought his mouth to her breasts, tugging at her nipples with his teeth. Spots where he had marked her earlier he now retraced with his tongue, and he sucked bruises onto the untouched sections of her skin.

With his rough treatment of her body, it wasn’t long before Jude was once more on the edge of coming.

“You need not ask before you come,” Cardan gasped out, rapidly losing himself in pleasure.

Jude came moments later, muscles clenching around him, crying out his name. Cardan quickly followed suit. He spilled into her and chanted “Jude, Jude, my Jude,” as he came hard. When he could finally catch his breath, he pulled out and rolled off her.

Cardan reached up and gently untied Jude’s hands from the headboard. Jude has been silent since coming, eyes still wide as they had been while she watched him.

“Are you okay, Jude?” He asked her quietly.

“Yes, my king - Cardan, I mean.” Jude blushed, and Cardan recognized that she had not left a state of submission yet.

“You may call me whatever you like now,” he assured her. “You did spectacularly. I have never seen a more beautiful sight than your body beneath mine, than your breasts covered in my marks. I will treasure this memory.”

Jude smiled up at him. “As will I,” she said. She hadn’t moved her hands from above her head.

Cardan took her wrists in his hands and gingerly began massaging them, making sure the scarves had caused no damage. Jude looked calmer, more at peace than Cardan had ever seen her. He told her as much.

“I needed that,” she murmured back.

“I trust I did not hurt you too badly?” Cardan teased.

Jude smiled. “You never could, _my king_.” She used the words mockingly now, but her face was soft and she pressed a kiss to his shoulder. Cardan gathered her in his arms, moving slowly so as not to startle her away, but she allowed it, let him hold her.

“You know I will pay you back for this, I hope,” Jude murmured into Cardan’s ear.

Cardan laughed. “I have no doubt. And yet it was worth it.”

Jude smiled and nestled closer to Cardan’s chest.

It _had_ been worth it.


	5. A Game of Jealousy

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is some really sweet shit, IDK why I made them so nice I was just in a mood I guess. Prompt from amandlas on tumblr was "Look at me."

Jude glanced at Cardan where he sat on his throne, his hair mussed from the hands of the faerie on his lap. Face flushed from wine, lips swollen from kissing a myriad of different faerie girls throughout the evening. Jude thought he looked beautiful, though she would never tell him.

She was slightly jealous, she would not deny, but it was a weak feeling. It was hard to be too jealous when she knew who Cardan would be returning to his chambers with tonight — who he returned with every night. Her.

Still. Though he no longer slept with Faeries, had “given up his taste for the immortal,” as he put it to her, he certainly made a show of the many things he _did_ do with them. No one, seeing him at revels, in the throne room, against the walls of the palace halls, would know he was _hers_.

Tonight, she intended to show them all.

Jude strode up to the throne. Cardan stared at her the entire time she walked, maintained eye contact with burning intensity. A warning. A question.

“Move,” she ordered the faerie on his lap when she arrived in front of him. The faerie glared at her but left her position, knowing the authority Jude held. Good.

Jude replaced the girl on Cardan’s lap, sitting smoothly down and turning to throw her legs over the side of the throne. She pressed a kiss to his neck, lingering there to whisper, “does the taste of her lips compare to the taste of me, High King?”

They both knew she did not mean her lips.

“No,” Cardan replied, but his eyes lingered on the faerie girl. He was baiting her, Jude realized, wanted her jealousy to increase, wanted it to burn them both.

She took the bait gladly. If he wanted her rage, he would have it.

“Look at me,” she snapped, taking his chin in her hand and turning his head sharply. She maintained eye contact, did not release his chin. “Am I not more beautiful?”

He could not lie.

“You are,” he said. “And yet.” He tried to turn his head back to the faerie but she held him firmly.

“And does your desire for me not eclipse any scrap of want you feel for her?”

“It does,” he said. “And yet.” She released his head and he turned it back to the faerie.

“And yet,” Jude echoed, “you insist upon provoking me. You are nothing if not predictable, and…” she leaned in close to his ear once again. “You are _mine_ , Cardan. Do you understand?”

“Yes,” he breathed, desire evident in his voice and still not looking at her. “And yet.”

“God damn it, Cardan,” Jude said, banging her fist on the throne, not caring who saw her outburst, who heard the way she addressed the King. “Look at me!”

He looked, and when he did, desire and humor shone in his eyes, a mingling she rarely saw and one that left her breathless.

“My Jude,” he breathed, moving his hand to cup her cheek, the other sliding up her thigh where it lay across his lap. “I do love these games we play.”

Jude smiled wickedly, leaned in and pressed a chaste kiss to his cheek. “I would love them far more if I began as a player, rather than a toy.”

“Are you not my willing plaything?” Cardan asked, a fake pout on his lips.

Jude’s face grew hot, and she knew her own desire was visible. “Take me to your chambers, Cardan, and let’s play.”

She knew his night of drinking and debauchery was over when she saw the predatory look in his eyes, the need he felt for her. She felt like she had won this game.

They returned to Cardan’s chambers, stopping several times to kiss against walls, in stairwells, in the shadows behind open doors. His hands ran up her sides and she melted under his touch as she always did, as she had for so long now she had forgotten what it was to spend her nights without him. She hoped she would never have to remember.

When they entered his chambers, she pressed him against a wall in the entryway, her hips on his, her mouth pressing bruising kisses to his lips, his throat, his chest as she ripped his linen shirt open. He made a sound of protest which died when her kisses ran lower, over his waistline, Jude falling to her knees before him. She grinned up at him.

“I’ve never felt more powerful than when I’m on my knees before you. You would do anything I asked for a mere moment of my lips around you, wouldn’t you?”

“Wicked Jude,” he breathed, but he did not answer. He didn’t need to — she already knew.

When he was thoroughly divested of clothing, save the torn shirt still hanging from his shoulders, she took him into her mouth, wrapped her lips around him and swirled her tongue around his length. He fisted his hand in her hair, unwilling to let her set the pace as she so often did. He had wanted her all night, thought only of her as he kissed other faeries, as he played their game. Now that he had her, he would not let her torment him as she loved to do, making him wait until he begged, pleaded with her to give him more. Tonight, he would set the pace.

As he thrust himself into Jude’s mouth, Cardan’s head fell back against the wall, eyes closing as he groaned loudly. Jude stopped all motions, pushing back against the hand in her hair moving her to continue.

“I believe I told you to _look at me_ ,” she said harshly.

Cardan opened his eyes and looked at her. He maintained eye contact as she resumed her motions, as she drew him closer and closer to the edge with every passing minute. And when he finally came down her throat — swallowing was a skill Jude had practiced until she mastered it, as with everything she did — his eyes widened and still he gazed into her eyes.

It was a powerful feeling, to watch her watching him come. It was a rush. It was surrender and ruination and magic all together, all begging him to never let her go.

Jude stood.

“We forgot to make it to your bedroom again,” Jude commented, voice dry.

Cardan laughed and swept her into his arms. “And thank all that is good for that.”

Jude smiled. “I never thought I would hear you thank all that is good, my cruel king. My player of games.”

Cardan’s face grew soft now, contemplative, as he held her in his arms, still weak from his orgasm and blindingly, consumingly happy. “You are all that is good, my love,” he said simply.

Jude thought she might cry.

They retired to bed, and as Cardan began kissing up the side of Jude’s neck, running a hand across her stomach and lower, lower, lower, Jude stopped him, grabbed the wandering hand in hers.

“Tonight, look at me,” she murmured, pressing a kiss to his palm. “Just look at me.”

So he did.

Cardan gazed into Jude’s eyes until his own grew heavy, and then he gazed at her some more. He gazed at her until her eyes fluttered closed, her fingers still laced with his. He gazed at her, and he loved her.

He loved their games, and he loved her.

**Author's Note:**

> Follow me on [tumblr](https://myqueenjudeduarte.tumblr.com) and feel free to request anything you want me to write! I hope you enjoy my first foray into writing smut!


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